Free Spirit joins the Science Task Force

Free Spirit is proud to join leading environmental organizations as an official partner in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems, vital to our lives and well-being, all around the world. As an actor and official partner, Free Spirit will play an active role in managing and shaping the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Building on our extensive experience to protect and restore nature, our long-term commitment will entail actively funding and leading efforts to realize ecosystem restoration globally, and contributing new science and research to help scale up these efforts effectively. Free Spirit joins the Science task force of the UN Decade.

The Science Task Force can achieve their objectives through a variety of means, including :

• Peer-review outcomes of the other Task Forces or key publications in the context of the UN Decade
• Convene expert groups with additional participants tailored to the specific to be addressed
• Organize workshops and webinars for broader scientific and technical audiences to advance understanding based on the advice produced
• Issue recommendations to relevant scientific bodies and platforms, such as IPBES and IPCC, for inclusion of relevant restoration topics into forthcoming assessments
• The Chair, The Co-chair and members of the Science Task Force can represent the Task Forces at events or meetings organized on topics related to the UN Decade

Ecosystem restoration means assisting in the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed, as well as conserving the ecosystems that are still intact. Healthier ecosystems, with richer biodiversity, yield greater benefits such as more fertile soils, bigger yields of timber and fish, and larger stores of greenhouse gases.

Restoration can happen in many ways – for example through actively planting or by removing pressures so that nature can recover on its own. It is not always possible – or desirable – to return an ecosystem to its original state. We still need farmland and infrastructure on land that was once forest, for instance, and ecosystems, like societies, need to adapt to a changing climate.

Between now and 2030, the restoration of 350 million hectares of degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems could generate US$9 trillion in ecosystem services. Restoration could also remove 13 to 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The economic benefits of such interventions exceed nine times the cost of investment, whereas inaction is at least three times more costly than ecosystem restoration.

All kinds of ecosystems can be restored, including forests, farmlands, cities, wetlands and oceans. Restoration initiatives can be launched by almost anyone, from governments and development agencies to businesses, communities and individuals. That is because the causes of degradation are many and varied, and can have an impact at different scales.

For instance, degradation may result from harmful policies such as subsidies for intensive farming or weak tenure laws that encourage deforestation. Lakes and coastlines can become polluted because of poor waste management or an industrial accident. Commercial pressures can leave towns and cities with too much asphalt and too few green spaces.

Restoring ecosystems large and small protects and improves the livelihoods of people who depend on them. It also helps to regulate disease and reduce the risk of natural disasters. In fact, restoration can help us achieve all of the Sustainable Development Goals.